Mast step

ABSTRACT

A mast step for a kayak sailing rig is provided. The mast step supports a mast relative to a deck of the kayak at a desired angle to facilitate an optimum sail shape. The step also has a convex below a surface which contacts the deck, allowing the mast to be rotated forward or aft in use, and in particular allowing the mast to be rotated from an upright position to a flat position against the deck of the kayak.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] This invention relates to sail apparatus, and in particularrelates to a mast step for a kayak. Reference in this document to“kayak” includes kayaks and similar small watercraft such as canoes andskis.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] It is convenient when using a kayak, particularly a sea goingkayak, to be able to use a sail in favourable wind conditions andthereby enable more efficient propulsion of the craft.

[0003] Typically, sail rigging designs for kayaks comprise two spar ormast members which are located on a front deck of the water craft. Forconvenience, these members will be referred to as masts. The masts arelocated at an angle to each other whereby the lower ends of the mastsare provided relatively close together, and the upper ends are providedrelatively further apart. The sail is provided between the two masts.The masts are attached to the kayak at their lower ends by means of arope which passes through holes in the base of each mast and is usuallytied or otherwise fastened to connect on either side of the front deckof the kayak. Elastic cord material or rope holds the masts in asubstantially vertically orientation relative to the water craft.

[0004] This rig set up has a significant disadvantage, being that it isdifficult to adequately secure the lower end of the masts to the deck.The lower ends can be secured by means of pulling the rope very tightlybetween and fastening the rope between cleats, but even when adequatelysecured, the existing arrangement does not facilitate good sail shape.This is because the foredeck of kayaks is often angled quite steeply,and at an angle that is too steep for the optimum angle of theindividual spar members. Therefore, the sail shape is sometimescompromised, and it can be difficult to lift the spar members into theirvertical orientation or withdraw them to a horizontal orientation forstorage or when the wind direction is not optimal for sail assistedconditions.

[0005] Also, most existing kayak sail installations are designed so thatthey have to be individually custom made for different types of canoesor kayaks. Such sail assemblies have the disadvantage in that they arenot easily adapted or interchanged amongst different craft or differenttypes of craft.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0006] It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvedsail apparatus which will at least go some way toward overcomingdisadvantages associated with the existing constructions, or which willat least provide the public with a useful choice.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] In one aspect the invention consists in a mast step having a bodywith a mast mounting means on one side thereof for supporting a mast,and a deck contacting surface on the opposite side thereof forcontacting the deck of a watercraft, vessel attachment means to attachthe step to the watercraft, and the mast mounting means being arrangedto mount a mast at a predetermined acute angle in a plane extending in atransverse direction relative to the watercraft.

[0008] The body is preferably elongate and the vessel attachment meansattach the step to the watercraft such that the elongate body extends inthe transverse direction relative to the craft.

[0009] In the preferred form, the mast mounting means is arranged toprovide the predetermined acute angle between the mast mounted thereonand a horizontal plane or a vertical longitudinal plane.

[0010] The deck contacting surface is substantially convex, and mostpreferably substantially conical.

[0011] Preferably the deck contacting surface allows a mast supported bythe step to be moved between a substantially horizontal position and asubstantially vertical position in a longitudinal direction while thebody is attached to the watercraft by the vessel attachment means.

[0012] In the most preferred embodiment the mast mounting means arepivotally attached to the body and the mounting means comprises a spigotand the pivotal attachment allows the spigot to move in the transversedirection.

[0013] Conveniently, the vessel attachment means comprise a aperturethrough the body. In a further aspect the invention consists in a mastincluding the mast step of the preceding statement of invention.

[0014] In another aspect the invention consists in a sail apparatusincluding a mast (or spar) member for supporting a sail, the base of themast member including a support means, and the arrangement andconstruction being such that when the spar or mast member is orientedfor use in relation to a water craft, the spar or mast member isprovided at a desired angle relative to the deck of the water craft.

[0015] In a further aspect the invention consists in a sail apparatusincluding a mast (or spar) member for supporting a sail, the mast memberhaving a support means at a lower end thereof, the arrangement andconstruction being such that the support means constrains the angle ofthe mast relative to the water craft while also enabling the mast to bemoved between a position in which it is substantially parallel to a deckof the water craft to an upright position.

[0016] Preferably the support means has a substantially conical surface,and

[0017] the support means includes an aperture therein to secure thesupport member to the deck.

[0018] In a preferred embodiment the support member includes a rope orwebbing provided through the aperture, the rope or webbing beingfastened to the watercraft.

[0019] In a further aspect the invention consists in a mast step havingan outer surface which is at least partly substantially conical.

[0020] In a further aspect the invention consists in a mast step havingan outer surface which is at least partly substantially galvanised.

[0021] In a further aspect the invention consists in a mast step havingan outer surface which is at least partly substantially cylindrical, andmost preferably is substantially conical.

[0022] In a further aspect the invention consists in a mast stepassembly including

[0023] a deck contacting member having a deck contacting surface whichis at least partly substantially cylindrical or conical,

[0024] mast base receiving means whereby a mast is able to be pivotallyconnected to the deck contacting member.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment the mast base receiving means includean aperture for receiving a pin whereby the mast may be pivotallyconnected to the deck contacting member.

[0026] The deck contacting member preferably includes at least oneflange having an aperture therein, the flange aperture being adapted toreceive the pin.

[0027] The assembly also preferably includes a mast base connectorhaving a first part for receiving a base of the mast, and a further partfor contacting a wall of the flange.

[0028] Preferably the mast base is substantially hollow and the firstpart of the mast base connector comprises a projection or spigot whichis received in the hollow mast base.

[0029] The flange wall and the further part of the mast base connectorpreferably comprise complementary surfaces which are adapted to allowthe mast to be provided at one or more substantially predeterminedangles relative to the deck contacting member.

[0030] In a preferred embodiment the flange wall includes a projectionand the complimentary wall of the mast base connector includes one ormore recesses adapted to receive the projection to thereby allow themast to be disposed in one or more predetermined angular orientations.

[0031] Alternatively, the flange wall includes a depression or recessand the complimentary wall of the mast base connector includes one ormore projections.

[0032] Alternatively, the one or more projections or recesses areprovided on the flange wall and the single projection or recess isprovided on the mast base connector.

[0033] The invention may also broadly be said to consist in features,components or integers which are described in this document, eitheralone or in combination. To one skilled in the art to which theinvention relates it will be seen that a variety of differentembodiments of the invention will fall within the ambit of the appendedclaims.

DRAWING DESCRIPTION

[0034] One or more preferred embodiments of the invention will now bedescribed with reference to a number of drawings, in which

[0035]FIG. 1 is a perspective sketch of a first example of a mast stepaccording to the invention

[0036]FIG. 2 is a perspective sketch of a second example of a mast stepaccording to the invention

[0037]FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic partial side elevation of a kayakincluding the mast step of FIG. 1

[0038]FIG. 4 is diagrammatic front elevation of the kayak of FIG. 3.

[0039]FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of a third example of amast step according to the invention, and

[0040]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the assembled apparatus of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0041] Referring to FIG. 1, the base of the mast 2 includes a mast step4 which is provided as an elongate body for the base of the mast and isin the general form of a frustum of a cone. As will be seen furtherbelow, the member 4 may be generally cone shaped i.e. conical, or may beprovided in other shapes. A substantially central aperture 6 runsthrough the body of the step 4 to allow a rope to be provided through itas will be described further below.

[0042] Turning to FIG. 2, an alternative form of the mast step of FIG. 1is shown, in which the step 4 is provided in a partial general coneshape, again having a central aperture 6 that runs through it.

[0043] In use, the mast 2 will usually be constructed from a tubularmetallic material such as aluminium. However, other materials may beused, such as fibreglass or other composites for example. The base ofthe mast 2 is placed in the mast step 4 by providing an appropriatelysized aperture, for example, by drilling a hole to a desired depth intothe body of the mast step 4. Alternatively a spigot may be providedextending from the body about which the hollow base of a mast may belocated. Material from which the mast step 4 is constructed could be avariety of different types of material, preferably comprising plasticsmaterial which is easily moulded or otherwise shaped or formed toprovide the shape that provides desired results, as will be describedfurther below.

[0044] Turning now to FIG. 3, a mast assembly is shown in side elevationincluding the mast step of FIG. 1 on a kayak. In practice two masts areprovided having similar or identical mast step arrangements as will bedescribed further with reference to FIG. 4. However, for the purpose ofgeneral illustration of the sail arrangement which the mast stepaccording to the invention is designed to implement, reference is madein FIG. 3 to the mast member 2 being stepped on a deck 8 of the watercraft (preferably the foredeck). The mast step 4 is secured to theforedeck by means of a rope 10 passing through apertures 6. The rope issecured at the side of the foredeck or at the side of the hull of thekayak by an appropriate tie down arrangement such as the use of atensioning cleat 12. This arrangement secures the base of the mast tothe kayak 14. At some point along the length of each mast 2, stays areprovided. One or more forestays 16 are provided between each mast 2 andan appropriate fastening member 18 attached to the kayak. One or morebackstays 20 are provided attached to each mast 2 and a rear part of theforedeck, again using an appropriate fastener 22. Tile rear fastener 22will often be provided near the cockpit of the kayak. The forestay 16may comprise an elastic member such as a piece of bungy or shock cord,for example, which enables the mast to be held in a relatively secureupright position against the backstay 20 which will usually be held intension.

[0045] As indicated by arrows 24, the rig is one which is able to beraised or lowered by the user in the cockpit. To lower the masts 2, theuser grasps back stay 20 (or other appropriate cord or rope) to drag themasts 2 down to a flat position which is substantially parallel to thedeck. To raise the masts, the user allows the elastic bungy cord to dragthe masts into a substantially vertical position where they arerestrained from further forward movement by backstays 20. The pair ofmast steps are able to operate in tandem to provide variable sail pitch.As will be seen, the shape and configuration of the mast step member 4greatly assists in allowing the mast 2 to rotate between the horizontaland vertical positions and beyond. Therefore, the vertical orientationof each mast in a longitudinal (i.e. fore/aft) direction is facilitatedby the curved lower deck contacting surface of each step 4, and iscontrolled by the user using backstays 20.

[0046] Turning now to FIG. 4, the arrangement is shown more clearly inend elevation. In particular, it will be seen that the general cone orwedge shape of the mast steps 4 assists in orienting the masts 2correctly so that they are at the correct transverse (i.e.port/starboard) angle for improved sail shape for the sail 30.Therefore, the general shape of the mast steps 4 compensates for theeffect of the steeply cambered deck as it appears to the base of themast and provides a secure transverse support. Furthermore, thegenerally smoothed or curved shape of the outer surface of the maststeps 4 allow the mast 2 to be rotated back toward the cockpit in such away that the masts tend to fold down on the deck. It will be seen thatthe angle of the deck does have some effect upon the general size ofshape of the mast steps 4. The mast steps 4 could be cylindrical in somecases where the deck camber is reduced. Also, the shape may varyangularly, so that the masts lie parallel to the sides of the kayak inthe lowered position but are splayed at the required transverse anglewhen the masts are in the upright position. The required transverseangle is that which provides an optimum or near optimum sail shape. Ascan be seen from the drawings, when viewed in a transverse planerelative to the kayak (eg when viewed in front or end elevation such asFIG. 4) the angle is acute relative to a horizontal plane. The angle isalso acute relative to a vertical plane running longitudinally along thecentre of the kayak.

[0047] Furthermore, it will be seen that the mast steps 4 provide avastly improved interface between the kayak and the masts 2. The maststeps 4 lend themselves to having the central aperture 6 through whichthe rope 10 may be placed to secure the base of the mast assembly to thedeck of the craft. In particular, as can seen from FIG. 4, one end ofthe rope 10 can simply be provided with a hook 32 which can be placedthrough an appropriate eyelet or other anchor point 34. Eyelet 34 can beeasily and quickly fitted to an existing kayak, or can be easilyprovided on a new craft. The rope 10 is threaded through the mast steps4, and at the other end, can be tightened across the deck by using acleat such as a jam cleat 36 for example. Again, cleats such as cleat 36are readily available and are easily fitted to an existing kayak, or canbe provided as part of a new craft. In order to prevent the loose end ofthe rope 10 from becoming completely disengaged from the kayak, a knotor other enlarged ending 38 may be provided to the rope 10 to preventthe end passing back through the cleat 36.

[0048] Also, the masts 2 may be provided in a telescopic arrangement oras two pieces, joined via a spigot. Therefore in FIG. 4, the lower partof the mast member may be provided as an external tubular member 40, andthe upper part 42 may be provided at a reduced overall diameter so as toslide telescopically within tube 40. An appropriate adjustment membersuch as a light screw, pin, shackle or the like may be provided tosecure the two telescopic members relative to each other. Therefore,when the sail 30 (which may be provided with sleeves at either side tofit over or about the masts) is removed, the overall assembly may befolded up into a relatively small volume. The masts can be made of anyprior art material including aluminium tubing, fibreglass or plastictubing with a wooden or plastic doweling which connects as two sections.Also, the assembly is capable of being assembled very quickly andaffixed quickly and conveniently to a kayak. Assembly is also arelatively simple matter.

[0049] Turning to FIGS. 5 and 6 a further example of sail apparatus inthe form of a mast step assembly is shown. In FIG. 5, a body 50 providesthe main base for the mast step and effectively replaces the mast step 4referred to in the earlier figures. As described above, a generallycurved deck contacting surface 52 is provided on the body, and thiscurved surface could be cylindrical but in the most preferred form issubstantially conical in form. It allows the deck contacting member toroll or rotate over a part of the deck of a kayak or similar watercraft.In this way a mast may be disposed between a substantially horizontalposition on the watercraft and in a substantially upright position.

[0050] The body 50 has at least one, but preferably two flanges 54 whicheach have an internal flange wall 56 that is preferably substantiallyplanar and has an aperture 58 therein. Ribs 60 are provided on the outerside of each flange for additional mechanical strength. One or both ofthe walls 56 has one or more projections or recesses thereon which arecontoured to engage with one or more corresponding or complementaryprojections or recesses on a pivotally mounted mast base member 62 aswill be described further below.

[0051] A spigot 64 on the base 62 is received within the hollow base ofmast 65. The base 62 also has one and preferably two walls 66 which inuse contact walls 56 of the deck contacting member 50. The walls 66preferably have projections or recesses to mate with those referred toabove on wall 56 to provide preferred angular predetermined positionsfor orientation of member 62 (and therefore the mast) relative to themember 50. Spaces 68 are provided between projections 64 and wall 66 toreceive the base of the mast. Therefore to assemble the mast stepassembly, the mast is placed over projection 64, and the base 62 isplaced between walls 56, then pin 70 is used to pivotally connect base62 to member 50 and is fastened in place using nut 72. Washers 74 arealso preferably provided. The pin 70 also passes through the walls ofthe hollow base portion of the mast so that they mast is securelyattached to the assembly. Finally, there is an aperture 76 which isshaped to allow webbing and/or rope to pass through it to fasten thestep to the deck by tensioning the webbing and/or rope as describedabove with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. One alternative assembly devicewhich may be used for webbing is to use a buckle such as that commonlyknown as a “LADDERLOC” type buckle along with grommet fasteners for thedeck, rather than a cleat and an anchor hook. The buckles may be thosecommonly used with material such as that commonly referred to as“VELCRO”.

[0052] Turning now to FIG. 6, the apparatus is shown in assembled view.In this view, the projections/grooves 80 that are provided on the walls56 and 66 are shown. It will be seen to one skilled in the art that awide variety of projections or recesses can be provided. The mostpreferred form is generally radial projections and recesses with oneprojection being provided on wall 56 and a plurality of recesses beingprovided on wall 66. The recesses on wall 66 are provided atpredetermined dispositions so as to provide a number of preferredangular mast orientations for various sail sizes and different deckangles.

[0053] To further assist with monitoring the required angular positionbetween base 62 and body 50, a fastener such as a self-tapping screw 82may be disposed through one or both of flanges 54 and into the adjacentwall 66 of the base. The screw 82 thus acts as a locking pin.

[0054] Of course two of the mast step assemblies described above arerequired in order to provide the required sail shape as shown in FIG. 4.However, it will be seen that the apparatus could be provided such thattwo of the members 50 are pivotally or flexibly connected to each otherin such a way as to lie across the apex of a deck of a kayak or similarwatercraft. Also, the mast steps referred to herein may be providedintegrally with each mast.

[0055] From the foregoing, it will be seen that the invention providesconsiderable advantages. In particular, it allows the orientation ofmasts or spars on a kayak or similar watercraft to be oriented relativeto the deck of the craft to maintain a desired sail shape. Also, thesail assembly is easily raised or lowered by a user, since the mast steparrangement allows the base of the masts to rotate relative to the deckof the watercraft. The masts can be mounted on the deck of thewatercraft without damaging the deck or otherwise ruining the aestheticappearance or functionality of the craft. The sail assembly can befitted to existing craft, or can be provided with new craft. Finally,the assembly is easily assembled and disassembled and when not in usecan be reduced to a relatively small volume for convenience of handling.

1. A mast step having a body with a mast mounting means on one sidethereof for supporting a mast, and a deck contacting surface on theopposite side thereof for contacting the deck of a watercraft, vesselattachment means to attach the step to the watercraft, and the mastmounting means being arranged to mount a mast at a predetermined acuteangle in a plane extending in a transverse direction relative to thewatercraft.
 2. A mast step as claimed in claim 1 wherein the body iselongate.
 3. A mast step as claimed in claim 2 wherein the vesselattachment means attach the step to the watercraft such that theelongate body extends in the transverse direction relative to the craft.4. A mast step as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mast mounting means isarranged to provide the predetermined acute angle between the mastmounted thereon and a horizontal plane or a vertical longitudinal plane.5. A mast step as claimed in claim 1 wherein the deck contacting surfaceis substantially convex.
 6. A mast step as claimed in claim 5 whereinthe convex surface is substantially conical.
 7. A mast step as claimedin claim 1 wherein the deck contacting surface allows a mast supportedby the step to be moved between a substantially horizontal position anda substantially vertical position in a longitudinal direction while thebody is attached to the watercraft by the vessel attachment means.
 8. Amast step as claimed in claim 1 wherein the mast mounting means arepivotally attached to the body.
 9. A mast step as claimed in claim 8wherein the mounting means comprises a spigot and the pivotal attachmentallows the spigot to move in the transverse direction.
 10. A mast stepas claimed in claim 1 wherein the vessel attachment means comprise anaperture through the body.
 11. A mast including a mast step as claimedin claim 1.